Sunshine, at last

Spring sounded as distinctly as an alarm clock as temperatures soared under blue skies, driving us outdoors amid bird calls so musical and rich that we took the collective result as spring’s prelude and definitively swept winter into the recesses of memory. The buzz of human conversation drifted from the park, the street and the back to back yards as the neighborhood shook off a fitful winter’s sleep and we threw open the windows in every room of our homes so that spring might rush in and push all stagnancy away.

First one and then more mowers, weed eaters and leaf blowers worked to remove the visible traces of winter’s ire. Craig created one of the piles of dead limbs, dried leaves and tired grasses that dotted the edge of the street waiting for removal by the city calling, “here, take the long, cold winter away.” Across the street the newly trimmed yards seemed greener and fresher while flaunting daffodils and pansies that, merely by implication, radiated with intensity and depth.

My family stretched with the satisfying sigh that often comes involuntarily after waking. They scattered in the sunshine, Miren with a book on the back deck, pausing to declare the day perfect, her family perfect, even herself perfect. Lise sat on the sidewalk near the street in the front yard sketching the first offerings of the season and chatting with passersby. Rem, with a newfound sense of freedom and even more energy than usual, commandeered a ship in the back yard, practiced fencing techniques with a stick, moved his pinecone friends to new locations and chased Tam, the crocodile until the dog-crocodile returned to the house for some long desired solitude.

The evening arrived slowly and though reluctant to relinquish such a day, the promise of its successors nudged me indoors where Vivaldi ushered in a spectacular spring night.